LONDON — Britain's opposition Labour Party wants an election as soon as possible but the "sequencing" has to be right to ensure a no-deal Brexit was blocked first, the party's top legal policy chief Shami Chakrabarti said on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will seek an election if lawmakers vote this week to take control of parliament in a bid to pass legislation to prevent Britain leaving the European Union without a deal.

"We've got to get a locked-in guarantee that Britain would not crash out of the EU in an election campaign period," Chakrabarti told BBC radio.

"We've also got to try as best as possible to ensure that it wouldn't be possible for the sitting squatting prime minister in this period to set a general election and then change the date. The priority this morning is preventing this no-deal crash out.

"Then of course if we get the sequencing right and we can get sufficient support across the house we live and breathe for a general election."